- Capitalism and Alternatives -

Feliz Navidad

When you form an entity, and when that entity is said to possess ownership of property or wealth, it is a simple matter to shift responsibility and liability to it, so as to make whatever problems one might have into lucrative opportunities. Thus, earthquakes are no longer simply "acts of God" (who, apparently, no longer is liable in view of His recent "death"); they are, instead, the work of a perfidious bourgeois "class". Thus, if I provide capital for a farming enterprize, I am to be blamed for deforestation and mudslides, and thus, the subsequent deaths of thousands of people.

One might also claim that an increase in drownings is caused by merchant enterprizes as well; due to an increase in commercial shipping, people sometimes are left trapped on sinking ships - vessels that, if not for the capitalists, would never exist. Many of these people die. The capitalists know, or should know, that ships invariably sink. Thus, the capitalists ought to be held liable for drowning people, and ships - a clear danger to people - should be outlawed.

This reminds me of the time I confronted the Friends of the Earth about their thesis that Western capital was responsible for global warming, and thus, threatened life as we know it. I asked what was to be done about pollution in the communist regions, which by all available counts was much more severe and virtually unregulated. I was told that "we had to tend to our own affairs first". If what I was told was true, then "tending to our own affairs" was meaningless; our own attempts to counter the destruction of the ozone layer would be undone by wanton use of the same chemicals in the Third World and Russia. Again, one begins to wonder about this so-called "commitment to the global village".

Of course, now I will be accused of being callous to the affairs of Venezuelans, perhaps even racist. To which I respond, as always, that you still cannot have my money.

"Doc" Cruel

P.S. Hats off to those Americans, serving at the behest and under the employ of the U.S. government, that are assisting in relief efforts in the region. Too often, the numerous acts of charity and good works "perpetrated" by the United States government remain unseen and ignored. My hopes go to these efforts, and those of other nations allied with the Americans, that they might mitigate this Christmas tragedy. Hopefully, the attempts to use this incident for agitation and political gain by the Left will not hamper the regional rescue efforts too unduly.